Name: krC82822 Date: 11/22/2000


22 Nov 2000, eval1127@eng -- the calculation (vs. the availability of a compile-time constant)
is noted in the 1.3 docs:
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/docs/api/java/lang/Double.html#MIN_VALUE

...and in the 1.2 docs:
http://java.sun.com/products/jdk/1.2/docs/api/java/lang/Double.html#MIN_VALUE

...though not in the 1.1 docs.

Thus, the "change" appears to have occurred when Java2 was introduced.

However, a check of the 1.1.8_005 sources reveals that the calculation is done in 1.1.8_005, as well.
Thus, we should document the change.
------------
java version "1.3.0"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.3.0-C)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.3.0-C, mixed mode)

Double.MIN_VALUE is no longer a compile-time constant. Looking at the source
code downloadable from your site, it looks like this is the culprit, in
java/lang/Double.java:

    public static final double MAX_VALUE = 1.79769313486231570e+308;
...
// public static final double MIN_VALUE = 4.94065645841246544e-324;
    public static final double MIN_VALUE = longBitsToDouble(1L);

Someone, between versions of the JDK, incorrectly changed MIN_VALUE from being a
compile-time constant to being initialized by a method call. This adversely
affects my programs, which were relying on some compile-time constant math.
(Review ID: 112491)
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